Healthy food choices

Having access to affordable, healthy food options locally is a big part of happy and healthy neighbourhoods. This means not only the availability of fresh and healthy produce, whether that is through local shops or grocery stores, but also the ability for communities to grow their own food if they want to. Conversely, the proliferation of fast food outlets serving only unhealthy food can exacerbate unhealthy lifestyles, particularly among young people.

Access to healthier food options, whether through access to fresh groceries and produce or the availability of locally grown food, is usually limited by affordability. Often these options are limited for those who are in the least well off parts of the UK; the poorest fifth of the UK’s households would need to spend 43% of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the Government-recommended diet, [29] which exacerbates health inequalities. At the same time, the density of fast food outlets increases in England, as almost one in five local authorities has seen an increase in proportion of fast-food outlets, [30] providing cheap, easily accessible but nutrient poor food options.

Communities should be empowered to grow food locally, if they want to. Research points to gardening and food growing as a means of promoting relief from acute stress and reducing levels of perceived stress. [31] Local growing initiatives can, therefore, be a good opportunity to build connections and a sense of community at the same time as addressing a lack of healthy food options.

Scarcity has an effect on people’s long term decision making, causing people to make decisions that adversely affect them in the long run. [32] This is because people who are experiencing adversity are more likely to make short term decisions to cope. [33] At an earlier developmental stage, access to healthy food options is essential to ensure that children are able to get all the nutrients they need to grow. In the most deprived areas, there is a higher prevalence of tooth decay (2.5 times) among five year olds compared to those in the least deprived areas. [34] Children aged 10 and 11 in the most deprived 10th of the population are on average 1.3 cm shorter than those who are in the least deprived 10th of the population. [35]

Young people have also felt encouraged to eat unhealthy, cheap and on-the-go foods due to having little money. Often, young people socialise at fast food restaurants, which in turn influences their food choices. [36] Research has shown a positive correlation between food-growing activities and the increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables for adults and have net positive impacts on nutrition and approaches towards healthy eating for school-aged children.[37]